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Ramirez homers, gets tossed in Dodgers' 7-2 win

Sep 7, 2009 - 11:56 PM PHOENIX(AP) -- Manny Ramirez showed off a faux trophy ball in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse Monday, then signed it.

"This is the ball I was thrown of the game on," he said with a smile.

Like the Dodgers, Ramirez could laugh about it after a 7-2 victory over Arizona.

Ramirez hit his 17th home run in the second inning but was ejected by home plate Doug Eddings in the third after striking out.

Ramirez struck on three pitches, the first two called strikes - the second pitch appeared to be inside. After swinging and missing to end the inning, he flung his bat and helmet near the plate.

"I told him I thought it was a ball," Ramirez said. "Then I threw my helmet, and he threw me out. It's OK. He's human. He's not a machine."

Chris Young homered again - he hit three Sunday in a loss at Colorado - as Arizona dropped its fifth straight game.

Ramirez and James Loney hit back-to-back homers off Max Scherzer in a three-run the second inning and Ronnie Belliard had a solo homer in the fourth to back Vicente Padilla, who is 2-0 in his three starts since joining the Dodgers' starting rotation Aug. 27.

Ramirez was tossed for the second time this season and sixth of his career.

"I think it was just too quick a trigger," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "You can fine somebody for throwing equipment, and you can throw them out. I asked (Eddings) if he cursed him, and he said no. I just wish more umpires, and he's a good umpire, he works hard, when they see an impending problem, would just turn around and walk away.

"This game is a passionate game. It's something that needs to be taken into consideration, and I don't think they take it into consideration enough. I'm not saying the umpire should take abuse. But I think they should do what they can to keep from having to do what they did today," he said.

Late-season acquisitions Belliard and Padilla continue to provide contributions for the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Belliard, acquired from Washington on Aug. 30, had three hits and two RBIs, finishing a triple short of the cycle. He is 10 for 26 since joining the Dodgers with two homers and six RBIs.

"When you get traded from a team that is going nowhere to a team that is in a pennant race, hey, you feel you have to raise your level of playing baseball," said Belliard, hitting .262 with seven homers overall.

Belliard had an RBI double and Russell Martin hit a sacrifice in two-run eighth inning, which began when Juan Pierre, Ramirez's replacement, singled and stole second and third. Pierre had an RBI single in the ninth.

Jonathan Broxton got a four-out save, entering to strike out Justin Upton with runners on first and second and two outs in the eighth inning. Broxton has 33 saves in 38 chances.

Young hit a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 4-2.

Young has 11 homers. The major league record for homers in two consecutive games is five, last done by the Alex Rodriguez on Aug. 17-18, 2002, when he was with Texas.

Padilla, signed to a minor league contract Aug. 19 after being released by Texas on Aug. 17, is 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA in three starts since joining the Dodgers' rotation.

Padilla gave up six hits and struck out three in his second consecutive start against Arizona, which scored only one run off him in 5 1-3 innings of a no-decision Sept. 1. Padilla beat Colorado in his first start.

Scherzer (9-9) and Martin exchanged words in the middle of the fourth inning.

Scherzer hit Martin with a pitch behind the left shoulder with two outs in the top of the inning. That came two batters after Belliard's homer gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

Martin stared at Scherzer as he walked toward first base, escorted by home Eddings, and Scherzer took a few steps toward the base line. The two exchanged words on the field after Padilla flied out to end the inning.

"I'm not trying to hit him. I'm trying to get an out. It caught me off guard that he was upset," Scherzer said.

"Looking at his body language, I don't think he tried to hit me," Martin said. "But it still hurt."

After Scherzer lined a single to right field to open the sixth inning, Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier threw to first base in an attempt to catch Scherzer, who made it easily.

NOTES: Arizona outfielder Justin Upton was back in the starting lineup Monday after being replaced for failing to run hard on a fly ball in the third inning of a 13-5 loss at Colorado on Sunday. Upton, who thought his fly to deep right field was a home run, was held to a single. "It's a growing and maturing moment, and it is my job to remind him of those moments," manager A.J. Hinch said. ... Young became the first player in major league history to hit three home runs in a game with a batting average under .200 and a minimum of 300 at-bats Sunday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He entered the game hitting .191.